UNCTAD’s next quadrennial Ministerial conference – the fourteenth since the organization’s founding in 1964 – will be held in 2016 in Peru.

The twenty-seventh special session of the Trade and Development Board (TDB) successfully concluded today with the endorsement of Peru by the TDB as the venue for the fourteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV). The endorsement by the TDB will be forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly, which is expected to formally confirm the TDB’s recommendation sometime this year.

“I am confident that with the hospitality of the people and Government of Peru, UNCTAD XIV will be highly successful and memorable,” said Supachai Panitchpakdi, the organization’s Secretary-General. “Allow me also to take this occasion to reiterate my gratitude to the hosts of our last conference, Qatar, for their excellent hospitality and their continuing support for our work. Our institution is fortunate to benefit from the stewardship of both the outgoing and incoming hosts.”

The last conference, UNCTAD XIII, took place in Doha in April 2012. The President of the Conference, Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar, told this morning’s TDB session that the Qatari Government remains fully committed to UNCTAD’s mission of promoting development and enabling all people of the world to live in “larger freedom.” He added that Qatar also remains fully engaged in UNCTAD’s efforts to face current challenges such as the fallout from the global financial crisis and the ramifications of major political and economic changes around the world, such as those taking place in the Middle East.

Ambassador Luis Enrique Chávez Basagoitia, Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations at Geneva, told the meeting that Peru had taken part in the first meetings in 1964 that had led to the creation of UNCTAD. “As a founding member of UNCTAD, Peru has always said how important it is to mainstream development into international trade and economic affairs,” he said. “Peru is firmly committed to UNCTAD as a highly important body.” UNCTAD activities in the field of trade are particularly important to the country, he said, as the Peruvian economy, by using international investment and foreign trade as “the main drivers,” has achieved annual economic growth averaging 6 per cent in the last decade.The Special Session also saw the handover of the Presidency of the TDB from Ambassador Jüri Seilenthal of Estonia to Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi of Kazakhstan.

UNCTAD’s quadrennial conferences, which attract Heads of State and other high-level government officials, are used to set the organization’s work programme for four-year periods. Also attending the week-long series of meetings are representatives of non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and the private sector. At a series of high-level debates, trends in the global economy and related issues affecting developing countries are discussed in depth. At the end of the conference, a detailed set of guidelines for UNCTAD’s activities is negotiated and approved. ​